A Dreaded Time
by Ciel Leon
Summary: He was taken from his home, left in an unfamiliar place, and then told he would be a player in ' Z2K: Zombies to Kill', left in a situation where he knows no one, is in a live/die situation, and can't even communicate properly; Kazuo Kiriyama gains a new appreciation for an English speaking Brit that appears from nowhere. On the other hand… these 'Zombies' are quite a nuisance.
1. Z2K

_**Summary:**__ He was taken from his home, left in an unfamiliar place, and then told he would be a player in 'Z2K: Zombies to Kill', left in a situation where he knows no one, is in a live/die situation, and can't even communicate properly; Kazuo Kiriyama gains a new appreciation for an English speaking Brit that appears from nowhere. On the other hand… these 'Zombies' are quite a nuisance._

_**Pairings: **__None so far- If there is one it will be far off in the distance towards the end of this story and quite possibly slash... between Kazuo and Harry._

_**Warnings: **__The obvious really… Blood, Guts, Gore, Swearing, Weapon Usage- Zombies._

_**Disclaimer: **__No matter how much I wish I did, I don't own HP, Battle Royale or the idea of Zombies- just the idea for this fic._

_**P.S.: So… I finally made my own Zombie fic… and I couldn't resist making it a crossover apparently. This is really just a test out to see what people think- granted I'll probably write it out for my own amusement if nothing else- but I haven't really seen anything like this hanging around FF so here goes nothing. Just a heads up- there's a lot of description in the body of this chapter, but it really starts moving towards the end. I hope you all enjoy! Oh, and I have a note about my view of our resident psycho at the end of this chapter in case you're interested/ confused.**_

* * *

_**A Dreaded Time**_

_By: Ciel Leon_

* * *

Chapter 1- Z2K

All he had been doing was sleeping in his bed within his empty home, however, when he woke, he found himself alone in an odd looking deserted classroom. The room was humid, smelled of mold and mildew, and had no lighting as far as he could see from his position on the hardwood floor. Kazuo dimly registered that he had been lying on the floor for several hours, based on the way his muscles protested and the way the left side of his face was reluctant to detach from the floor.

Stiffly moving into a sitting position, Kiriyama dispassionately assessed the room.

It was defiantly an old classroom, several desks had been overturned, dust covered every surface available, the two windows on the far side of the room had been covered with rotting wooden planks, textbooks littered one corner where a cabinet had been overturned and, now that he was actually looking, Kazuo noticed a dark smear spot on the hardwood floor.

The Japanese teen stood unsteadily before moving towards the stain. He knelt there once he reached it; eyes narrowed slightly in thought as he quickly went through his memories in order to identify the liquid that had made the stain. It only took a minute for him to recognize it as an aged blood stain once he compared it to a memory.

Silently Kazuo turned around, nodding to himself as he came face to face with the classrooms door. He tested the handle and found it gave way easily, he was about to exit the room but paused, hovering in the doorway his gaze focused on the dust covered floor of the hallway.

Three sets of footprints, and what looked like twin lines in the center of the footprints leading past the classroom door and two sets of foot prints that separated from the other tree that entered and left the classroom.

There was a chance the three men would be on their way back through the hallway.

As Kazuo figured it, he had three choices, stay in the classroom- probably the safest but most boring option, head in the direction the three men and their baggage had gone- not overly appealing either (Kazuo did not like the fact he would be heading unarmed into a possible trap), or head in the direction the footsteps came from.

Kiriyama found he would rather walk into the lion's den than a trap.

First things first though.

Kazuo strode over to the windows, leaving the door to click shut almost silently, even as he begun to pull one of the boards from its place.

He only pulled away two planks before he got the view he'd been looking for.

Forest, lots of forest- and odd stretch of field far off in the distance, blue sky and sparse clouds, looking down Kazuo could tell that the building was highly damaged, there were many holes in the plaster that made up the buildings front and cracks decorated it's surface much –like climbing vines that were stronger and more abundant at the root but became more wide-spread as height was gained.

Over-all, nothing was overly familiar.

He couldn't tell what the temperature or humidity was like outside due to the reinforced window pane that had a thick wire netting held between the multiple layers of glass.

A brief buzz of … annoyance? Seemed to prod at him before the feeling abruptly vanished leaving Kiriyama to frown slightly even as he returned his gaze towards the scenery outside.

He narrowed his eyes in focus- attempting to see through the thick canopy five feet and six inches beneath the window ledge.

He couldn't get a clear view, and there were so many varieties of leaves that it was troublesome to find which leaf belonged to what tree- trunk or branch.

So he wouldn't be able to identify where he was by foliage.

Kazuo turned away from the window, stepping over the wood he had discarded earlier absent-mindedly before walking towards the door, and making his way from the room and into the hallway.

The hallway was cluttered with loose crumpled paper and dust as well as the occasional overturned desk or random textbook lying about.

The red-haired teen only blinked at the scene before directing his gaze to the floor to analyze the foot prints and drag-marks once more.

Blue eyes half-lidded, Kiriyama turned on his heel and began to walk in the direction the footsteps came from.

None of the hallways he silently pad through looked any better than the one he had started in and the classrooms with opened door-ways he passed seemed to actually be in worse shape than his own starting point.

When he came upon a two way junction, Kazuo carefully scanned the new hall containing the footprints as well as the one opposite.

The hallway containing his current trail looked the same as the others, but the other was decorated with macabre bullet holes and long gashes carved into the wall made from what appeared to be an AK-47 and the serrated blade of a butcher knife.

Kazuo cocked his head to the side slightly before returning to his bread-crumb trail.

It was a little while before he reached another junction, this time with a hallway footprint free to his right and a staircase to his left. The path trailed down to the lower floor just like the blood stains from numerous hands that clung to the wall one the way down.

Kazuo began his descent, blue eyes rapidly categorizing the position the hands had been on the walls to leave the stains like they were. Just from his gaze, the red-haired genius could determine that at least 129 different hands had made their imprint though there were many more from the slight smears he could glimpse.

Upon reaching the first floor after following the prints down four flights of stairs, Kazuo's gaze landed on another pair of prints, these ones farther apart, the right leg appeared to have been dragged while the left foot print had scuffs signifying that whoever had left the prints had been attempting to run- from what was yet to be seen- but the thin layer of dust also specified that the prints had been there for a while- though not as long as the rest of the dust in the hallways.

Shrugging slightly Kazuo turned back towards the original pair of footprints and began to follow them once more.

The prints led him down several hallways- most more gruesome looking than those he had seen before, and out a set of double doors that branched off from a courtyard.

Kiriyama stood there in the open air for a moment- ignoring the way his vulnerability made his skin crawl- as he took in the air around him.

Humid- warm temperature- warm temperature when it was fall back in Japan- and this place certainly wasn't Japan or anywhere near it- he could hear the faint sound of a beach far off in the distance-

Kazuo blinked.

There was also a significant lack of airplanes, phone lines, traffic noise, any sign of civilization really.

Deserted plot of land then- possibly due to an attack or fast acting disease- but bodies? Where had the bodies gone? There was enough blood in the building that surely someone had died in there and only one set of drag-marks, the one he had followed before- so… someone cleaned this place up- a long time ago if the dust gathered was any indication- and the 'clean-up crew' hadn't cared enough to rid the building of blood stains either.

So he was out in the middle of nowhere in the tropics near an ocean on a deserted plot of land with three possible unknowns and a possibility of even more people roaming about.

How quaint.

* * *

Kiriyama held a strong belief in 'a moving target is much harder to hit than one standing still- even more-so if the target is good at remaining hidden'.

It was this belief that had the red head weaving to-and-fro amongst the pillars of the buildings architecture in an attempt to cause trouble for anyone who might attempt something as he scanned his surroundings.

Not much to add to what he had figured out earlier- aside from the obvious fact that this place used to be a high school and that there was a very high and durable concrete wall with a center of hardened granite lining the property. Kazuo had only noticed the granite due to a relatively large hole in the wall made by some short of shotgun and multiple rounds- he couldn't discern the type of rifle at this distance, but it was a powerful one- the distance between his current location and the wall was a deadly strip of open grass without obstructions much-like the courtyard and he wasn't about to chance it for a look at a hole in a wall.

As he made his way towards the far end of the courtyard he began to hear a steady crackling noise the closer he got towards a building that appeared to be an auditorium.

Upon reaching the space between the auditorium and the courtyard, Kazuo took a chance, and bolted towards the door of the building.

The door was unlocked and he quickly maneuvered himself inside, eyeing the door with a calculating gaze- he needed to find a way to lock the door just in case. But he also wanted a way out if it was needed.

The doors lining the rest of the auditorium wall were locked and unyielding, so no way out there- or in for that matter. Shrugging to himself, Kazuo scanned the room with keen eyes- spotted a durable looking strip of wood a little ways off and was about to head towards it when he began hearing several sounds.

Scrapping- nails on metal and a sound- moaning?

And- was that the smell of rotting cadavers?

Blue eyes widening slightly- Kazuo turned towards the many sets of doors leading toward the inside of the auditorium.

Each had multiple sets of electrical locks clasping the door handles, and Kazuo knew it wasn't to keep him out- those locks were meant to keep whatever was moaning and scratching _behind _those doors.

The red head turned back towards his exit and opened the door as quietly as possible- he closed it just as quietly but the teen noticed the rise in volume just before the door clicked closed.

Kazuo quickly returned to the courtyard weaving through the shadows once again and it was only as he drew closer towards the building full of classrooms that he noticed two figures standing outside of it.

One was almost shouting at the other- their words quick, and sharp, sometimes even too fast to catch even from the distance between Kazuo and the talking stranger.

Kazuo couldn't make out their features them until he got closer, stopping several yards from them- the person talking was a female, sturdy build prominent muscles, brunet and slightly darkened skin.

She was 'speaking' Spanish most-likely.

The other was male shorter than the brunet with dark brown- almost black hair reaching his shoulder blades- thin in stature, good runner in that case- wide green eyes and a look of confusion in his face.

"_Will you listen to me for a second? I don't understand a word you're saying!_"

And he spoke English apparently- so either British or American, most –likely British considering the accent.

Well.

At least he could tell one of them to shut up, it would be better if he had been able to find some duct-tape for the female though.

* * *

It was the Englishman that spotted him lurking in the shadows watching him.

The black haired male had pointedly slapped his hand on the females' mouth and motioned to him with his hand in a universal 'come here' gesture.

Kazuo scanned the roof tops near him silently before taking a step towards the two unknowns.

The girl was glaring at the Brit, obviously frustrated and indignant as she attempted to pry his hand from her mouth, even as green eyes greeted Kazuo with a simple hello.

Blinking slightly Kazuo replied in English knowing it would be better than throwing up a false pretence of misunderstanding and confusion.

"Do you have any idea what this girl is saying? I sure as hell don't."

Blinking Kazuo turned his gaze to the female in their small group before shaking his head.

"I don't, but there's a high possibility that we might need to find a way to shut her up- and rather soon- the Auditorium is occupied- possibly by something sub-human."

The Brit blinked.

"Have any idea what it- or they are?"

"No, but whatever it is, it's dead yet still moving."

The Brit cursed fluently only pausing for a second to kick the Spanish female in the shin when she licked his hand, and ignoring the swipe she took at his head.

Kazuo merely raised an eyebrow.

"Z2K," explained the teen, "otherwise known as 'Zombies to Kill', it's a TV show aired mainly in Brittan and America, the whole premise is a group of teens from different places all over the world stuck on a deserted island with only make-shift or found weapons forced to survive for an unknown period of time against several hordes of Zombies. Catch is that there are several different places where there are the participants as well as the weapons and Zombie hordes- and there's no real way to tell when the assholes will set the Zombie on us."

Kazuo closed his eyes for a moment.

"We need to get into the forest before they unlock the auditorium doors- and find some weapons as well. Do you know how to kill a Zombie English?"

Green-eyes sent him a slightly annoyed look.

"It's Harry, and all I've ever heard is that beheading, or brain destruction are the only thing that works on killing them- and don't let them bite you."

For the second time that day, Kazuo raised an eyebrow.

"You'll become one of them- or if they catch you- get eaten." The black haired male- Harry said shortly.

Kazuo blinked and turned towards the female.

She was staring at the brunet, wide-eyed and… about to cry?

Hmmm… She must have recognized the acronym.

At least she had finally shut up.

* * *

**On the character Kazuo Kiriyama:**

**Honestly, my perception of Kazuo is a slightly odd. I feel that Kiriyama, while being an 'unfeeling' genius, must actually feel something. Not an extreme emotion mind you- just something as simple as curiosity and slight annoyance. I figure that prodigies must have at least the slightest curiosity to actually 'evolve'. So in my opinion, even without feeling any major or impacting emotions, Kiriyama must have at least felt a vague sense of curiosity- he doesn't need to feel something like 'moral obligation', 'hate' or 'love'- just a base instinct/ drive to know **_**more**_**. He's difficult to write either way, but I can't see Kiriyama knowing everything about the world without **_**learning**_** about it first.**


	2. Start

_**Summary:**__ He was taken from his home, left in an unfamiliar place, and then told he would be a player in 'Z2K: Zombies to Kill', left in a situation where he knows no one, is in a live/die situation, and can't even communicate properly; Kazuo Kiriyama gains a new appreciation for an English speaking Brit that appears from nowhere. On the other hand… these 'Zombies' are quite a nuisance._

_**Pairings: **__None so far- If there is one it will be far off in the distance towards the end of this story and quite possibly slash... between Kazuo and Harry._

_**Warnings: **__The obvious really… Blood, Guts, Gore, Swearing, Weapon Usage- Zombies._

_**Disclaimer: **__No matter how much I wish I did, I don't own HP, Battle Royale or the idea of Zombies- just the idea for this fic._

**__****P.S.: Quick update- new character in the mix... Enjoy! And try not to mind any grammer mistakes, I apologize before-hand.**  


* * *

**A Dreaded Time**

_By: Ciel Leon_

* * *

Chapter 2- Start

It was like balancing on the double-edged blade of a knife- one way you scared up your feet before you fell, but the other was liable to scrape the skin from your body starting with your feet until it reached the back of your head.

Not pleasant either way- although one way you lived (somewhat) the other way you died painfully.

That was how Harry viewed his choice between leaving with the Asian-looking teen or staying with the scared-out-of-her-mind Spanish female that had finally broken free of his grip on her mouth and began muttering under her breath with her eyes wide and darting around in a frenzy.

Harry's instincts were screaming at him- not only to _move_ to _flee and never look back_ but also to _leave both of them behind, forget them watch out for yourself_!

Intellectually, Harry knew the woman would get him killed simply because of her insistent use of her own voice, but there was something just plain _off _with the other teen.

He spoke English perfectly- from what Harry had heard- but used the language stiffly, too formerly.

He used it without _inflection_ or _feeling_.

So possibly a psycho lacking emotions, but willing to work toward the common goal of survival.

Harry could work with that.

"We need to start moving."

The Asian teen was watching the Auditorium, eyes narrowed and calculating.

"We'd have to skirt the building to reach the parking lot before picking the lock- an ideal time for the zombies to come after us."

Harry turned to face the Asian teen as the other spoke before eyeing the building several meters before them.

"Not a chance in hell then."

The red head nodded, before turning slightly to face one of the gates that headed out towards the wall.

Harry couldn't see his face, but knew the other was thinking of and discarding plans at a quick rate, and then blue-eyes tilted his head to the right slightly- almost like a curious cat.

Harry sighed gustily, "we'd have to pick a lock either way wont we?"

The red-head merely nodded slightly before taking off into the building of classrooms at a run.

Harry, after a moment of stunned bemusement followed- ignoring the sudden screeching of the Spanish girl as he disappeared into the depths of the gruesomely painted hallways and abandoned classrooms.

When he finally caught up, the red-head was running pell-mell down a hallway on the fourth floor following what appeared to be two sets of footprints and a pair of drag-marks made in the dust that layered the floor.

Harry almost went skidding when blue-eyes took a sharp turndown one hallway before continuing on.

When the red-head finally came to a stop Harry nearly ran into him, an action that allowed him a slight glimpse into the room.

There was a person in the room, as well as two bodies.

He noticed the bodies first. Both were face down on the hard wood floor surrounded in pools of their own blood, the left one had apparently been dragged to its position next to the other and both bodies had been shot- one in the head, and the other in the chest.

Harry noticed the stranger next.

His build was slight but with whipcord muscles, he was wearing a plain black shirt that matched his hair color and a pair of worn jeans and even though his back was to them, Harry knew he had heard their arrival by the tensing in the new comers shoulders.

"_Kawada._"

Blue-eyes spoke what was evidently the other males' name with a slight accent- and the fact that the red-head had even addressed the other told Harry that they knew each other on some level- probably not on friendly terms if Harry was right about his companions' lack of emotion.

The black haired stranger whipped around eyes wide with a cigarette perched in the corner of his mouth before his eyes narrowed hastily.

"_Kiriyama Kazuo._"

Definitely not on friendly terms then.

Harry reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he watch the other two teens stare/glare at each other.

'Kiriyama' didn't blink, but 'Kawada' didn't let up on his stare.

Until Harry pointedly interrupted.

"Look, I can gather that you two don't have a good history with each other, but this is not the time for your childish pissing contest!"

Kiriyama turned and blinked at him, cocking his head to the side slightly before turning to watch Kawada's reaction.

Kawada was blinking rapidly; apparently stunned that he'd missed the British teen half-way hidden behind Kiriyama's body. It took him a second to come to terms that he was not alone with Kiriyama, but as soon as he did, he raised an eyebrow at Harry.

Harry snorted.

"We're about to have flesh eating zombie sicked on us at any moment and you-" Harry pointed at Kawada-"are attempting to get into a pissing match with someone who probably doesn't give a flying fuck about how you think of him. _Really_ smart!"

Harry knew his temper had gotten a slight hold on him, but he really would rather not die by being eaten alive- _thank you very much!_

Kawada blinked again.

"So what exactly is going on Brit?"

Harry scowled.

"Did you not what I just said? Flesh. Eating. Dead. People."

"That's not what I mean and you know it! What the _fuck _is going on and why _in the hell_ are you with unfeeling, psychopathic genius over there?"

"TV Show. People taken from all over the world. He spoke English."

"_Damn it._"

Well, that sounded like Japanese.

A sudden crackle interrupted their conversation- causing all three males to scan the room's ceiling until they spotted the intercom speaker on the ceiling near the front of the demolished classroom.

*Attention Players, Z2K will begin in seven minutes, this is your only warning.*

The sound abruptly cut off causing Harry to curse.

"Kawada. Shot guns?"

The new comer pointed to the cabinet closest to the door and Kiriyama wordlessly pulled the door open grabbed the two shot guns inside and took off in the span of 45 seconds.

Kawada spluttered for a moment only to realize that the British teen had followed Kiriyama's exit.

"That kid has a death wish." Kawada murmured under his breath before sprinting out the classroom door in an attempt to catch up.

* * *

Kiriyama sprinted down the hallways and down two flights of stairs before stopping on the landing and aiming one of the shotguns he'd liberated from Kawada.

He ignored the sound of pounding foot-falls approaching as well as the quieter echo of anther- possibly Kawada- before taking aim at the window pane four feet in front, and four inches above him, and fired.

The glass shattered spectacularly, raining down around him in a cascade even as he moved forward and grabbed onto the ledge made by the connection between the wall and window before quickly pulling himself up onto the ledge, the two shot guns swinging by the straps connected to them with his movement.

It was only a few moments later when a second pair of hands made their way onto the ledge.

Kazuo hesitated for a split second before leaning down cautiously to grip the others wrists and heave them onto the ledge; he did the same with the pair of hands that followed a moment later, before turning on his heel and jumping through the open window.

The red-head ignored the pain of the landing, quickly moving to the wall looming a few meters away.

Kazuo distantly acknowledged the twin thumps behind him but didn't look back- continuing towards the wall until he had reached it.

Harry and Kawada arrived a few short seconds later Kiriyama, quickly moving motioning to Kawada.

The other Japanese teen blinked, confused for a moment, turning to Harry for a 'translation'.

The green-eyed Brit cupped his hands while bent at the knee before straightening.

'Give him a leg up.'

Reluctantly, Kawada did so, slightly surprised when the genius didn't just jump onto the wall himself, instead motioning to Harry, who agilly climbed the human ladder the Japanese teens had formed, reaching the top of the wall where he balance precariously before reaching down to heft Kiriyama up with a surprising amount of strength.

It was then that they heard it.

A scream splitting the air before suddenly being cut off.

Kiriyama didn't even think, his arms already reaching down for Kawada and beginning to pull him to the top of the wall just as Harry saw the first Zombie and Kawada heard the one sound he would become overly familiar with in a relatively short amount of time.

A long drawn out gasping moan that sent fear down both his and Harry's spines, even as Kiriyama hefted him up onto the top of the wall far out of reach.

All three watched as zombies began to flood into the field they had just vacated, two in abstract horror and the other with a calculating gaze.

Kazuo turned to look at the other two, giving them a few moments to take in the situation.

Harry recovered first; moving to point first left then right in silent askance.

The Brit had also seemed to acknowledge that they were safer moving along the wall for now it seemed. Jumping down to the other side without some scout would have created the possibility of running into the unknown.

The red-head silently tipped his head to the right – the option opposite the direction of the auditorium.

Harry nodded before carefully tugging on the sleeve of Kawada's black T-shirt and motioning to the right.

Kazuo had already started walking, his balance perfect as he walked along the foot long straight surface of the wall.

Harry paused, searching Kawada's face before turning to follow.

Kawada didn't immediately turn to begin walking along the wall with the other two, instead taking a moment to stare at the field.

It was nearly filled with the undead now, numerous faces, skin rotting, puss seeping from wounds eyes glazed in a sightless fashion turned up toward his position on the wall. Their hands clawing uselessly at the smooth concrete surface, ragged nail some black desperately reaching for the next meal. It was the stench that hit him hard though. The scent of dried blood and rotten cadaver filled his nostrils at an almost overwhelming rate.

So he did the only thing he really could.

He turned and began to follow Harry, and tried to take in as much fresh air as possible before all he could smell was undead.

* * *

Harry wasn't entirely sure what to make of their odd little group, but he did know that if he hadn't been here, stuck on this island with the two Japanese teens, one wouldn't have made it out of the school alive.

Not that Kazuo got a lot of brownie points either.

Yeah, psycho, unfeeling genius matched with overly emotional teen (Kawada) ready to, quite possible through said genius to the sharks- or undead in this case.

Then again, Kawada probably would have just let himself get eaten alive in the classroom they had found him in- to interested in smoking to actually save his own hide.

However, Harry shouldn't simply be viewing their situation like that.

Really.

The two had managed to work together long enough to escape the immediate threat, and that was all Harry could really ask for.

* * *

Kazuo scanned his surroundings with narrowed eyes- trying to match the foliage to an area he might recognize but nothing was making sense.

There was an oak tree a meter ahead of them but a palm tree four and a courter meters behind the oak.

The Triangle Palm Tree was only native to Madagascar and the Hungarian Oak tree was known to be native to Europe and Asia.

There were many other trees that were mixed in with the others, but it was these two that stood out the most.

These two trees were from opposite Hemispheres- impossible to have in the same area naturally.

Someone had planted them here on purpose.


End file.
